Excavating apparatus



(No Model.) l v J. W. ADAMS.

BXGAVATING APPARATUS.

No. 599,760. Patented Mar. l, 1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Grrr-CEo JOHN W. ADAMS, OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIAI ExoAvATlNe APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming partV of Letters Patent N0. 599,760, dated March 1, 1898.

d Application led February 24, 1897. Serial No. 624,831. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN W. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Augusta, inthe county of Richmond and State of Georgia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Excavating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in apparatus for excavating by means of a series of scoops attached to a traveling sprocket-chain, and has for its object to greatly facilitate the work of excavating railway-cuts and filling in depressions, while at the same time packing the dirt and loose stone as delivered, much after the manner of a travelerf for barreling flour, and also to excavate dirt from cellars and thelike.

With these ends i-n view this .invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, the construction and operation will now be described in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my apparatus when in use and Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, the engine being omitted.

In carrying out my invention as here shown I provide a sprocket-wheel A upon the driveshaft of an engine-B, which latter is preferably a portable engine in order that it may be transferred to the point of operation and moved from time to time from one place to another, and over this sprocket-wheel runs a sprocket-chain C, having open links, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and this chain also runs over a similar sprocket-wheel D, which is journaled in the tail-block E, the latter being adapted for securement to the ground against the strain exerted thereon by the operations of the chain. y

F and G represent two scoops which are 1 adapted to perform the work required, and

vof the number thereof being the length of the sprocket-chain, as they mayA travel one behind the other in close succession.

From this description it will be obvious that when the tail-block and engine are properly located relative to the ground to be exward upside down, as shown at G, thus again arriving at the point from which it originally started, where it is again set when caused to take hold upon the surface over which it passes, or` instead of unsnapping the hooks when reaching the sprocket-wheels these wheels may be set to one side of their bearings, as shown at A, so that the hooks may pass around said wheels, by which process the scoops will be automatically upset and carried rearward and brought into position for further use.

When this apparatus is utilized for the excavation of railway-cuts and the formation of embankments upon the opposite ends of said cuts, a great advantage is had in that the earth as it is delivered to the embank'- ment is packed by the return movements of the scoops, as well as by the action of each successive scoop as it passes over the earth dumped by the preceding scoop, so that when the excavation has been completed the embankment formed from the dirt removed therefrom will be as packed and solid as though independent labor had been expended thereon for that purpose, and this process will be readily understood from the fact that it is similar in many respects to the action of a traveler in barreling flour. A

It has been found in practice that at least one-half of the labor which is now necessary to lexcavate a given quantity of earth and trans- IOO operation of my apparatus, whereas heretofore it has taken many men and teams to perform the same work.

It is obvious that by lengthening the chain and setting the tail-block at a greater distance from the engine a longer line of excavation will be had, and this is limited only by the length of such chains and the power of the engine, and when the chain is of considerable length a larger number of scoops may be in continuous operation thereon.

Having thus fully described this invention, what is claimed as new and useful is- In a device of the character described, a motor, a shaft operated thereby, a sprocketwheel on the shaft, a tail-block secured to the ground at a distance from the motor, a sprocket-wheel mounted within the tail-block,

said sprocket-wheels being arranged to operate in vertical planes, a chain run over the sprocket-wheels to drag on the ground therebetween, scoops, trailer-chains secured to said scoops, hooks on the chains securing them to the sprocket-chain, said sprocket-wheels being set to one side of their bearings whereby the hooks will pass therearound automatically upsetting the scoops and enabling them to bc carried rearward, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN lV. ADAMS.

XVitnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, S. J. COBB. 

